Photo: Runner1928 · CC BY-SA 3.0Bridgewater has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Only 4% work in Bridgewater; the top destination outside it is Sioux Falls (37%, 38 miles). Employers in Bridgewater report 98 jobs for 196 working residents. Working residents average 24 minutes each way (South Dakota 18, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Bridgewater, and who commutes in
On a workday 189 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 91 people come in from elsewhere.
About 420 people are in Bridgewater on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Bridgewater goes to work
Where Bridgewater clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Bridgewater
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bridgewater, 2013 → 2023: 96 → 98. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bridgewater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way for Bridgewater’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bridgewater workers work from home, vs 10% across South Dakota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 192 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across South Dakota: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Bridgewater commutes
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Bridgewater and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bridgewater workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | – | — | — | 24 min | $47,083 |
| Bridgewater Township | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bridgewater Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bridgewater’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Bridgewater: questions
What is the median household income in Bridgewater?
$47,083 (±$12,615) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,081 across South Dakota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bridgewater?
10.8%, against 11.9% across South Dakota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bridgewater?
24 minutes each way on average, against 18 across South Dakota and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bridgewater work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sioux Falls (37%, 38 mi), Canistota (7%, 11 mi), Canistota Township (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bridgewater without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bridgewater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bridgewater
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.